Home defense guns.

[Hornett]

OK, what is the accepted condition to keep a home defense handgun.
For example, the one you keep in a night stand.
If I am carrying, it is cocked and locked, but for a gun in a drawer I am not sure what is the standard.
Right now I keep a loaded magazine in the same box or drawer with the handgun.
This involves loading the mag and racking the slide to be ready.
But, I don't have the gun right there on me and don't know (for sure) who will be in that drawer or have access to it.
I have kids in the house, so that is a concern also.
Some have posted keeping handguns in some pretty ingenious places (toilet tank). Do you keep the mag in?
Does anyone keep their home defense guns in a locked box?
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Samurai]

You want to balance safety against accessability.

If you have children, you might not want to keep a loaded gun around. (And, it depends on the specific children. Are they curious by nature? Have they been taught safety?)

If you live alone, and children never come over, you can go more toward the "accessible" side, cocked and locked.

My fiance lives in a college town (major problems with home invasion are drug-money seekers), and she keeps hers by the bed, with a full mag, but unchambered. Her apartment is small enough that she won't "give away her position" by racking the slide (they'll know instantly upon entering where she is; there are only two rooms!), and the noise might just scare away an intruder without leading to a big shootout.

I keep mine in a top dresser drawer beside the bed, cocked and locked.

It's a judgment call, and it's a personal decision. You have to do what's right for you.

[mikejonestkd]

All kids are curious, sooner or later they will get into the drawer where you keep it. You don't want that to happen.

Get a quick opening lock box and keep it in there. You can get to it in seconds even in the middle of the night.

[gmoney]

It really depends on your situation, My wife and I do not have children so I keep my XD 45 next to my bed , magazine in, but not chambered, with the XML light on the rail of the gun ready to go. I also keep my Ruger PC-9 carbine rifle next to my bed, it also is equipped with a light, and 10 or 30 round mag fully loaded close by. I believe in this world we live in today you can never be too careful or unprepared.
It is a lot different deal if you have kids living in the house with you. Then you must use very good judgement................!!!

[David Armstrong]

If I am carrying, it is cocked and locked, but for a gun in a drawer I am not sure what is the standard.

There is no standard. Different needs, different situations, different solutions. That applies to CCW, nightstand, and almost any other situation.

[pax]

With kids in the house, our choice was to invest in a secure lock for our bedroom door and to always lock that door when we retired for the night.

When the kids were smaller, we had multiple 'baby monitors' in our room, with corresponding units in each of the kids' bedrooms, so the closed master bedroom door wasn't a big issue. (By the way, it's also safer in case of a house fire to have all bedroom doors closed at night.)

At night, my carry gun goes into a fanny pack where I also store a flashlight and my charging cell phone. The whole pack is placed inside a locking (not locked) case near my side of the bed.

If I need to leave the room during the night, I either pull the fanny pack on over my robe, or lock the case before I unlock the bedroom door.

pax

[Mannlicher]

hornett. This has been hashed out about a million times. Use the search function to find the threads. Please spare us another iteration of this tired old question.
thanks

[Daniel BOON]

my Rottweiler is a very important part of my home protection; he is very nosey, and will inspect any noise, no matter how slight.
I'm sure he'll take on any intruder, at least long enough for me to pick up one of my handguns; right now, he is getting his beauty rest, with one eye open .

[JoePesci]

i would say a v-line, will keep kids out, easy access, keep it cocked and locked in there, as fast or faster than loading a mag and racking slide, and safer imo

[skeeter1]

I keep one here, next to my bed.

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=261437

All of the rest are locked up in the safe. I don't have any kids, so I probably have nothing to worry about.

[banditt007]

also something to think about, i remember reading a forum member (on here or other wise i forget) that woke up cause he heard a noise. reached for his gun and racked the slide (mag loaded and in already) went to inspect the noise it was nothing. so he just put it back in the drawer as is cause he was tired. went to put it back in the condition it stays in the next morning, and noticed that the slide either didnt fully return to completely chamber the next round, or some sort of problem like that. basically he didnt rack it hard enough and fumbled a bit. very easy to happen when you just wake up.

As another stated its all about what you feel is the right thing if there are only responsible adults and no children i would keep it ready to go (chambered and saftey on or off, whatever you prefer)

IF there are kids perhaps keep it ready to rock n roll yet put it in one of those lock boxes that you just hit a combo of buttons and it pops open. make them large well spaced buttons ect

[Dwight55]

As previously mentioned by others, each situation is different, . . . so is the level at which people "come to".

If it is something that will wake me up, . . . IT WAKES ME UP!!!! I am alert, . . . ready to go, . . . investigating the sound to see if there is more to it than just another bump in the night.

Presently, . . . either a P89 or a Bersa Thunder .380 are on the nightstand, . . . both use a double action for the first shot, . . . it requires a whole lot more effort than flicking off the 1911 safety.

It is my last level of insurance for the bg, . . . AND, . . . AND, . . . should some errant child come in and pick it up (I try my best to put it away when I get up, . . . bring it out when I get ready for bed), . . . it may provide enough resistance on the DA trigger pull that it won't get discharged.

At any rate, . . . that is the rationale that works for me, . . . as there are no children normally in the house, . . . they have to be imported.

May God bless,
Dwight

[CU74]

Just the wife and me at home now. 1911A1 in Condition I.

[FS2K]

my Rottweiler is a very important part of my home protection; he is very nosey, and will inspect any noise, no matter how slight.
I'm sure he'll take on any intruder, at least long enough for me to pick up one of my handguns; right now, he is getting his beauty rest, with one eye open .

God Bless the Rottweiler.

[Tomas]

We keep both handguns locked and loaded, and put them away every morning.

Shotgun stays out.

No kids left, and three very protective Akitas...well, two very protective Akitas and one Akita that is still kind of a dumb 90lb puppy. But, soon...

Tom

[jfrey123]

You might think about a small electronic safe.

http://www.safetysafeguards.com/site.../product/33018

This one is out of stock, but makes an example of what I mean. Set the passcode to 1-1-1-1-1 and it takes less than a second to get the pistol out in an emergency, but keeps it safe from the kids.

[trooper3385]

I keep mine in my nightstand drawer or in my duty belt by my bed. We don't have any kids either, so theres not much of a concern there either. The 85 lb doberman that sleeps next to my bed is better than any HD weapon anyway.

[Hornett]

Thanks for all the replies.
I have looked for safes like the one Jfrey123 showed and that one is the best price I have found.
Too bad it is out of stock.
I think a small safe like the one shown is the best answer for me, personally.
The Rotweiller doesn't sound half bad either.
My 1/2 Lab, 1/2 German Shepherd would probably show the BG where the valuables were.

edit--> Cheaper Than Dirt has a lot of different electronic safes at good prices.

[garryc]

I'm going to get a Bio-metric gun safe, wall mounted. I'll put in my combat commander and my GP-100. No fumbling and no way to figure out the combo.

[revjen45]

No kids. Steyr S9 and Mak next to the bed, Mossy Persuader (one 3" mag #000 in the chamber, 7 * 2 3/4" #00 in the mag. Cond.1.

[L_Killkenny]

I'm lucky that I live in on an acerage. Crime is not a big concern. Still, a neighbor was broken into on a Sunday morning, when they were home (10 or 15 years ago) and another neighbor interupted a burglery in progress at their house a couple weeks ago. I have young children at home and never leave a loaded gun in the house. I do on occasion set a gun on the nightstand at bedtime. The mag is out and the hammer is down on an empty chamber. Even if the kids got a hold of the gun, they currently can not work the slide. It also keeps me from doing something stupid when half asleep. On the chance I do need it, it's close at hand and better than having it locked up in the safe. It gets put up in the morning.

LK

[Pistolman1974]

My night stand gun is a glock 19 with a round in the chamber, but i don't have any kids and when the house is empty it gets locked in a safe.

[WhyteP38]

I have kids in the house, and I used to use a mechanical handgun safe (no electric versions for me, in case the battery or power fails) that I opened at night and locked in the morning. Now I use a full-size mechanical gun safe near the bed, just far enough away so I can open the safe door at night, and close and lock it in the morning. The "ambience" wouldn't make a good picture for a Martha Stewart magazine, but it works for me.

My go-to guns are ready to go - no muss no fuss, because the last thing I want to do is fumble around in an emergency - and I can choose between pistol, rifle, or shottie.

I put the key to the safe on my car keys, and I leave the key in the lock at night when the door is open. Makes it hard for me to forget to lock the safe in the morning if I can't drive my car.

Bedroom door is locked at night and when the wife and I aren't around. An 85-pound German Shepherd is head of security when I'm asleep or not around.

[BouncerDan]

I personally have my weapon ready to fire when I go to bed. It is siting on top of my night stand ready to go. I also have children (little sister and her friends) around the house. But the way I look at it is that I would rather have the weapon right there and ready just in case. And the simple fact is that in the middle of the night who is going to be messing with it besides you.

However if for whatever reason you don't carry it that way of course you should make the weapon safe and place the ammo and weapon in two different places. Personally if I am not carrying for whatever reason (I.E. Going to the court house or going to pick the little sis up from school) I place all weapons in my safe.

But if I am carrying at night I simply take the weapon out of the holster and put it on my bed side table. Than when I wake up (usually after everyone else is gone) I take a shower and put it right back on.

However on Saturday when everyone is still here I put the gun in the safe while I take a shower. And than re-holster after getting dressed.

[Lazy D]

Just one thing to consider. I don't have kids at home now so I keep a loaded Glock w/ M3 ready to go. But, it is not close to the bed side. I often caution people about having it too accessible just for the fact that most folks once waken from a deep sleep will take some time to gather their senses. I put mine in a location across the room that will allow me a few seconds to gather myself and account for the wife before I go to look for that bump in the night. We've all heard of someone accidentally shooting a loved one. IMHO it would be too easy to make that mistake while still half asleep, snatching that gun off the nightstand, and reacting to the noise. Nothing will ruin your life like accidently shooting a family member.

Like I started out, this is just one thing to consider.

Stay safe.